Quote:
Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington
I retired from nursing seven years ago........I was one of the 'real' nurses, even though, as Sister on the ward, I had managerial responsibilities, I liked making the beds, doing the medicines, bed-bathing.......all these were the jobs where you got to know your patient.......I would see my ladies every day I was on duty...which was five days out of seven.......whereas some of my Staff Nurses would do 3 shifts of 12 hours and consequently would not know their patients.
I consider that I was a good nurse, and many people told me that I was.......I nursed patients how I would want my mother cared for.
I was a late starter to nursing, had no paper qualifications (and as such when these new directives are implemented, would not stand a chance).....paper qualifications mean absolutely nothing if the desire to care for people is not there.
Degree Education does not lead to better standards of care.
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I have no doubt whatsoever that you found your true vocation and were good at your job. Even 7 years ago, you must admit you were in the minority, nowadays its even worse. Nurses think they are some kind of elite, deserving of respect and Florence Nightingale kudos without putting in the lamp time. Let me give an example I recently came across.
Anyone being admitted from any type of care home is expected to provide a care staff to give care to them because the nurses cant cope with care related matters, they have no idea of how to deal with dementia or incontinence, let alone autism or learning disabilities. These care staff have only NVQ's as a qualification and are looked down on by these nurses with their medical background and are offered no help at all whilst looking after their charges in hospital. Yet these carers have more training, more hands on care, more consideration for the people they look after, more stringent demands on continuous professional development and deal with far more issues in a single day than nurses deal with in a month. And these people are paid probably about a 1/3 as much as your average whiny nurse, and work more unsociable hours.
Guess who I want to care for me when I reach my dotage?